UCLA faces a big obstacle to overcome after dropping super regional opener at Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. —  Oregon softball pitcher Cheridan Hawkins visibly talks to herself between pitches. More than a few UCLA batters were mumbling to themselves Saturday night after Hawkins mowed them down in the opening game of the Eugene Super Regional in the NCAA tournament.

Hawkins tossed a four-hitter and catcher Janelle Lindvall hit two two-run home runs to lead Oregon to an 8-1 victory.

The best-of-three super regional, which determines one of eight berths in the Women’s College World Series, continues Sunday at Oregon’s Jane Sanders Stadium. UCLA has to win at 4 p.m. to force a deciding game at 7 p.m.

The fifth-seeded Ducks (48-8) stretched their latest winning streak to five games and ended the winning streak of No. 12 UCLA (38-14-1) at nine games.

“We didn’t show up and play our game,” Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said, “but I credit Oregon for being able to execute the way they did tonight.”

Hawkins (24-3), a senior left-hander, went into the game with a 107-19 record and a 1.68 earned-run average, but was 2-5 with a 6.81 ERA in 12 previous games against UCLA.

“When you play this game, you can’t think about the past,” Hawkins said. “That’s always been a default, for sure, of mine, is always worrying about what had happened.

“I think we did a great job of not worrying about that [Saturday].”

More than half of Oregon’s players hail from California, including Hawkins from Anderson and Lindvall from Stevenson Ranch.

Hawkins struck out five and limited UCLA to an unearned run in the fourth inning. Hawkins eased her way through the Bruins lineup after throwing 34 pitches in the first inning.

Lindvall, the niece of former Dodgers outfielder Chuck Essegian, capped a six-run outburst in the third inning by breaking the Oregon career record of 46 home runs.

UCLA starter Johanna Grauer was relieved by Paige McDuffee (5-1) after Oregon’s first two batters in the second inning singled. The Bruins trailed, 6-0, after all six batters McDuffee faced in the third inning reached base.

Notes

UCLA shortstop Delaney Spaulding and catchers Madeline Jelenicki and Paige Halstead are on the U.S. national team roster. Former UCLA star Ally Carda is listed as a pitcher and infielder. … Oregon first baseman Hailey Decker is the daughter of former Angels utility man Steve Decker, now the hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants.